Discuss attitudes towards food and/or eating behaviour (24 marks) Essay

There are many explanations for the different attitudes of food and eating behaviour. One of the main explanations is social learning theory. This emphasises the impact of observing other people on our attitudes and behaviour. In terms of parental modelling, it is suggested that children can acquire their attitudes towards food by observing the behaviour of their parents. This is because the children are observing their parents eating patterns and therefore the parents are acting as eating role models. Children will notice that their parents are rewarded when they enjoy certain foods. The children will then imitate these eating behaviours as they will expect to get rewarded by doing so. Social learning theory therefore expresses the fact that children their food preferences as a result of vicarious reinforcement. As expected, there is a significant correlation between the diets of parents and their children. Brown and Ogden reported consistent correlations between parents and their children in terms of snack-food intake, eating motivations and body dissatisfaction. This is support for social learning theory because it is showing that observation in the home during childhood is a significant factor in determining eating behaviour and food attitudes. As well as this, in an experiment carried out by Duncker (1938), children observed a series of role models making food choices different to their own such as: their mother, a friend, an unknown adult and a fictional hero. The findings showed that all the role models had an impact on the children’s subsequent food choices except the unknown adult. Therefore children are more likely to sample unfamiliar foods after they have seen a significant role model (particularly their mother rather than a stranger) eat the food. This therefore supports the social learning theory explanation because it shows that parental attitudes and behaviour is especially an essential part of the social learning process of food choice and eating behaviour. Media is another factor that has an influence on our attitudes and behaviour towards food. The role of social learning is evident in the impact of media because throughout childhood, children are exposed to widespread food advertising on television to make food seem more attractive. This exposure can be effective in developing preferences, but unfortunately it can have negative effects because the advertised food tends to be high in fat and carbohydrates which can contribute to problems such as child obesity. Children observe role models in the media and due to vicarious reinforcement; they are often motivated to imitate the behaviour that they see. This means that advertisements involving food as well as role models are definitely powerful in shaping people’s food preferences. The role of social learning through media effects is supported in a study by MacIntyre et al. , who found that the media has a major impact both on what we eat, and our attitudes to certain foods. When evaluating social learning as an explanation of attitudes to food and eating behaviour, there is quite a lot of research support. The importance of social learning in attitudes towards food was demonstrated by Meyer and Gast. They surveyed 10-12 year old girls and boys and found a significant positive correlation between peer influences and disordered eating. The ‘likeability’ of peers was considered to be the most important factor in this relationship. However, this study shows that eating behaviour can be learned through alternative role models other than just our parents. Even though this study shows support, there are still issues with the theory and research into social learning as an explanation of attitudes and eating behaviour. For example, most studies and research support use correlations as their main evidence. Although these correlations allow us to study links between variables, they do not prove that one variable causes the other (e. g. media causes disordered eating). There may be other, extraneous variables that can explain why the co-variables being studied are linked. These studies may therefore lack in internal/external validity. As well as this, the social learning explanation has been criticised for ignoring other factors that have influenced attitudes to food and eating behaviour. It has been recognised that attitudes towards food are clearly a product of much more than social learning alone. For example, evolutionary explanations of food preferences suggest that our liking of fatty and sweet food is a direct result of an evolved adaptation among our distant ancestors over 2 million years ago. Therefore, we may not be able to completely rely on findings based on social learning theory as there could be many other factors that are contributing to our eating behaviour. Another explanation for our attitudes to food and eating behaviour is our mood. Low mood can often result in comfort eating, and low mood also seems to influence binge eating behaviour. Davis et al (1988) showed that low mood often preceded binge eating in bulimics. The same seems to apply in those with no known eating disorder. Students were asked to record their mood and eating habits over a two week period. Days that included binge eating tended also to be days of low mood, but significantly, binge eating did nothing to improve mood afterwards. So although we may binge when down it seems to do little to make us feel better. This influence of mood on our eating behaviours is supported by Garg et al. who conducted a study that focused on the impact of different films on mood and therefore eating behaviour. They observed food choices of 38 participants as they watched either an upbeat, funny film or a sad, depressing one. Participants were offered buttered popcorn and seedless grapes throughout the films. They found that those watching the sad film consumed 36% more popcorn than those watching the upbeat film, but the upbeat film group ate a lot more grapes. Garg et al. concluded that people who feel sad or depressed are more likely to go for a snack that tastes good in order to escape their negative mood. Happy people want to extend their upbeat mood and so choose to eat healthier foods. Even though there is support for mood influencing our eating behaviour, it is unclear why a binge-eating episode as a result of low mood is reinforcing for the individual, especially as any benefit appears to be brief at best. Many studies have also reported a mood decrement in individuals immediately after their binge. In terms of IDA, gender bias is an issue with most studies focusing on attitudes towards food and eating behaviour. These studies mainly focus on only women’s attitudes to eating behaviour, particularly in terms of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. However, a large number of studies have also shown that in men, homosexuality is a risk factor in development of disordered eating attitudes and levels of dieting. This suggests that studies that concentrate only on women offer a limited view of attitudes of food and eating behaviour and their findings will not be reliable if they were to be generalised to the population as a whole.